Days 5 and 6

So, Zack and I are on the same page and rocking along through the school year! His discipline problems are minimal, and I can't believe it. After our episode on Monday, I was afraid we were in for a hard few weeks. I'm hardly having to remind him to be quiet or about bathroom breaks, and he's fitting seamlessly in with our class. I'm having trouble staying up with the planning portion, but I think once this week is done, I will be able to keep the vision team prepared for what is coming. He's missing a huge portion of our math block, and I'm not sure why. His schedule is changing daily, though, so we'll see if he's in our room for math tomorrow and next week or not. I know the team wants him to use an abacus (is that spelled correctly?), but I would think most of our math curriculum is suitable.
We have started our literacy program, and it's working pretty well for Zack. His vision teacher has pre-made all of our visuals (letter cards, word cards) in braille for him to keep in his lap, and she guides him to follow along with the class. So, if I point to the letter g and say, "what's the sound for this letter," he's simultaneously touching a brailled g on his papers in his lap. I'm impressed at how quickly he's gaining fluency in braille. I guess that needs to be my next piece of research--how in the world does braille work? Are there words that are represented by symbols, or is each letter represented by a symbol? I'm thankful I'm not completely responsible for his reading because I have no clue how the braille system works. How many people do? :)
During writing time, Zack goes back to his braille machine in the back of the room to work with his vision teacher. He won't do any handwriting or work with a pencil, but he does color with crayons. There is this nifty textured board which the vision teachers put underneath his paper so he can color. It makes cool patterns, and it might leave somewhat of a texture. . .I should investigate this coloring contraption closer! The vision teachers are wonderful at adding braille to almost anything I give the kids. . .their flexibility and patience with me has made this whole inclusion process much easier. They have lots of clear labeling paper that they can braille in no time and stick on top of something. . .it's so nice. Like I said, with all of the prep work for getting ready for school to start, it was nearly impossible for me to be completely planned for this week. There are so many "off the cuff" activities like teaching procedures and rules that just come up naturally during the first week that it's challenging to plan for. My plans for next week are more or less complete (not very detailed yet), and I'm going to do my best to meet with Zack's team to go over everything tomorrow.
While I'm teaching and observing my kids, I'm going to try to start to watch how Zack's blindness is hindering or helping his efforts to make friends. Having an adult by your side all day can make it challenging, I'm sure. I'll see what I can decipher. . .stay tuned!